


the three times it wasn't a proposal, and the one time it was.

by Kealpos



Category: Legally Blonde - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Marriage Proposal, so yall get 3+1, was meant to be a 5+1 but i couldnt think of shit and im fighting the hyperfixation clock, you can sEE the decwease in qwauwitea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-18
Updated: 2019-04-18
Packaged: 2020-01-15 21:14:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18507208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kealpos/pseuds/Kealpos
Summary: Soon to be fiance: now that a man chose you, your life begins today!Over the course of their relationship, they do not propose several times, but once in a while, they do.





	the three times it wasn't a proposal, and the one time it was.

1.

It was a warm summer night, warmer still as Elle clung to Emmett's arm. He slowly led her out of the club as she giggled and stumbled along, her purse on the crook of her elbow and her high heels hastily shoved inside, as apparently most of her fine control with them was gone. A few more of their friends came out with them, giving wobbly byes before staggering off to where several taxies were slowing down as they passed.

Emmett had always said partying was a waste of time, drinking especially, but that night had been special. The final term had ended just a few days beforehand, and it was Elle's birthday, May twenty-second. Since it was Elle who begged him to come out with everyone- Enid, Vivian, David, the whole Harvard gang -and he could never say no to her demands, especially when it was her birthday of all days, he came out on the promise to drive Elle to and fro.

So, he stayed in the corner of the fray, watching drink counts, making sure everyone got water, cheering for Elle’s birthday, and when she went out to dance, he kept a careful eye split between watching the drinks and watching to make sure nobody tried anything too bad with her. She did drag him out to dance several times, her face split into a shit-eating grin, bright with a flushed red face. He laughed madly, and though he had told her many times both in the past and during the night that he could not dance, he swung around with her to the loud thumping music he couldn’t quite figure out the words to. 

And that’s why he was gently leading her to his car as she went from smiling hard to staring out dazedly. Some dude in the alleyway whistled at her, and he glared at them as they passed. He just watched carefully as they walked, and Emmett moved them a little bit faster.

After a little bit of walking, he gently brought her to the car passenger seat, and she shot him a weak, thankful little smile. He slid around into the driver seat and was about to start it up when she reached her hand over and tapped him gently on the arm.

“Yes?” He said, raising an eyebrow at her, while she just tapped him again and snort-laughed.  
“Thanks for comin’ out, Em. I totally understand-” she looked up at him through drooping eyelids, “-that this SO isn’t your thing, but I- I really appreciate you hangin’ out with me! And the gang! And me!”  
“Well, it is your birthday, little miss Woods, comma, Elle. I may be a fashion monster in your eyes, but I’m not evil.” She giggled, sharp and sudden and a little off-key. Cute.

“Ugh!” Elle groaned, leaning over the divider that separated the seats. “I can’t believe! I’m gonna hafta last three whole months without your dopey, face, you- you dopester.” She twisted and grabbed his hand, laughing up at him. Her breath still smells heavily of alcohol, which made Emmett wrinkle his nose. Not cute. “Y’know what? We should- we should plan a way for you to come visit me or… or live with me! Yeah. You can come to California and live with me!”  
“Right, well, let me start the car, and you can think up a solution for that on the drive back to your dorm, okay?” She gave him an over exaggerated thumbs up and melted back into her seat, spacing out as he finally got to start the car up.

Elle drifted in and out of sleep in the short drive back to the dorm, the street lights crossing over her face quick and bright. Normally, he would’ve turned the radio on, but he felt even the quietest of music might disturb her, which nobody wanted until it was necessary.

The minutes passed, marked by slow and steady breathing, until he pulled into the front of the dorms. Emmett unbuckled himself, then twisted to her and shook her lightly until she was reawakening, mumbling protests.

“C’mon, sleeping beauty,” he said, helping her out of the car, pulling her arm around his neck so she could properly keep hold of him. “We’re home.” They walked in, her shuffling alongside him tiredly. They made it to the elevator without much hassle, and then further in, arriving at her dorm. Elle yawned but managed to pull out her keys and unlock the door in under three tries.

Emmett was about to dislodge her from him and leave with a final happy birthday and good night, but such plans were derailed when she pulled him inside with unexpected strength. “Did you really think you were getting away from me that- that easily?” She said with a snort, tossing her keys onto the dresser and setting her purse down. “C’mon. I still need to tell you my plan for how you’re gonna come to Malibu with me. Can you unzip my dress?”  
“Uh, sure.”

She turned around, brushing hair out of the way and pointing at the zipper, which he stepped forwards and helped zip down. She breathed out in relief like it really was that tight. If it restricted her breathing that much, why did she wear it?

When he was done, Emmett turned away quickly, feeling weird about seeing that much skin with them not even dating, but she just shot him a grateful smile and disappeared behind her changing curtain.

Despite spending endless hours in the room, he would still never get used to the onslaught of pink in the room, though the color was broken up by various law books, various item of his that he always seemed to forget their, and various pictures of Elle and her friends, primarily him and Elle together. With her properly catching up in class, even making up some of the highest scores in the final exams, he had no idea how close they’d stay next year. He was still a TA for another teacher, and she would still be going to the school of course, but without the study interventions, would she even need him?

The curtain snapped open, and he was brought out of his aimless thinking by Elle trudging into the room, her hair tied up, and wearing the Bugs Bunny pajama pants he had bought her as the birthday gift. She yawned, stretching out before walking over to him and kicking slightly at his shoes.

“C’mooon,” she started, leaning her head against his shoulder with a droning sigh. “You aren’t going out this late, right? Hang out with me. Sleepover time. Sleepover!” He rolled his eyes, shedding his jacket and shoes, regardless of his exasperation.  
“Didn’t your parents ever teach you about playing nice and not peer pressuring kids?”  
“Oh, please, my parents totally like you. I think they’d want me to keep you here. Why, are you uncomfy?”  
Emmett sighed. “No.”  
“Good! Thennn, come ‘ere. It’s time to cuddle.”

He groaned, but let her drag him over to the bed, where they collapsed onto it. “Why are you doing this exactly?” He asked, flinging an arm over his eyes and pressing around until he hit the light switch off. Elle flicked his head until he moved over, and she wiggled under the covers.  
“Because silly! I figured out the Malibu plan!” Elle laughed, airy and bright, and he rolled over to look at her, waiting for her to continue. “Just marry me! It’s foolproof!”

“What?” He said, a little incredulous, and she scooted closer, still laughing.  
“Duh! I totally love you, and like- like- if you marry me, you can move in with me in California!”  
“God, this is such a great plan,” he mumbled, bringing a hand up to his face, even though the dark already hid the red lighting up his face. “You’re so drunk.”  
“Perhaps!” She admitted, yawning and slinging an arm across his torso. “Still totally love you, and we should definitely get married!”

Emmett chuckled, at a loss for words. “I don’t- this isn’t happening. This doesn’t count. Bring this up again when you aren’t wasted. This so doesn’t count as you confessing anything.”  
“I’m not wasted!”

Eventually, Emmett managed to slowly wake up, which meant at some point during the night he had managed to fall asleep rather than just think about Elle’s words. He was the little spoon, her arms wrapped tight around him because of course he was.

When Elle eventually woke too and dragged the both of them out to partake in the act of morning coffee, he asked what she remembered from last night. She smiled at him, sly but embarrassed, and took a sip of her drink. She didn’t ask again, and Emmett didn’t ask her to clarify anything even though the questions were buzzing right under his skin.

-

2.

“I’m home. Hey, Elle. What’s up?” Emmett asked, swinging into the apartment, shutting the door behind him. He had been off at his firm, working on the small case they had given him.  
“In here!” She called back as he was shrugging off his bag. He meandered into the kitchen, where she was sat at the table, her attention split between her computer, a law book, and a bridal magazine.

Emmett walked over, pressed a kiss to her forehead, and deposited a coffee in front of her. She smiled at him gratefully, and refocused on her millions of things, taking a quick sip of the drink as she did as such.

“What’re you working on? Maybe I can help?” He offered, pulling into a seat next to her and she sighed heavily before looking up at him.  
“Ugh, sorry, sorry. I am up to my ass in this stuff. I’m trying to write up notes for Vivian cuz she missed the last class, and I’m helping Paulette figure out wedding stuff like the dress and how to get discounts and stuff. Or, I mean, that’s stuff I’m attempting to do, but I keep getting stressed and distracted!”  
“Well, hey. You can take a quick break. Ten minutes, just to unwind.”

Elle looked at him carefully for a few seconds before nodding, closing everything, and frowning. She picked up her coffee and stabbed at it with the straw a few times before standing up. “Hang out with me on the couch?”

Emmett followed obediently, joining her where she sat. She adjusted until they were properly cuddled up together, and she chewed on her straw, not looking at him. “You okay?” He asked, and she just smiled.

“I’m cool, I promise. I just wanted to talk to you about something?”  
“Um. That doesn’t sound daunting at all.” Elle blinked and processed this for a few seconds before she sat up in alarm.  
“I’m not breaking up with you! It isn’t anything bad! I wanted to talk about marriage!”  
“What!?”

She laughed nervously and buried her face in his shoulder, her hair getting caught under her face, and he jerkingly tugged them out. “This isn’t going the way I meant for it to. This isn’t a proposal. I just meant- I’ve been thinking so much about weddings because of Paulette’s thing, and I wanted to make sure we set up boundaries, cause I really like you but, oh, you know. I don’t want things to go too fast.”  
“Thank god, holy shit. Yeah, you’re great, but five months is WAY too early for engagement.”

“Really? I had a Delta Nu sister who was Mormon and last I heard, her brother, who had just gotten back from a mission to Uruguay or someplace, started dating a girl in December, engaged her in early March, and their wedding was the May after that. You don’t want something like that?” Elle asked teasingly, and he did his best to look off-put, despite the grin filling out on his face.

“No thanks. But, okay. It’s not a proposal. What’d you want to talk about with marriage?”  
“Um, like. Nothing in restaurants. I mean, I love restaurant proposals, but I think it’d just make me think of, you know, Warner,” she said, twirling a piece of her hair, and he nodded. “And I don’t want it to be a surprise. Er- well, I do. I mean… how do I describe this? I want the proposal to be a surprise, but I don’t want the engagement to be one.”  
“That sounds reasonable. Especially if the proposal is like, public.”  
“Yes, exactly! What about you, Em. Anything to talk about?”

He shrugged, curling an arm around her shoulders. “Well, like we were saying, I definitely don’t want something so close to when we’ve started. I want to like, get serious first. My mom dated a lot of jerks, but she also went through a bunch of engagements and weddings and divorces with them because she was so desperate for like, domesticity? This isn’t me blaming her, by the way, I just know it was hurting her, so I want us to like, last a year or two before we properly think about- about weddings and stuff.”

“Right!” Elle said with a smile, before leaning back against his chest. “I’m glad we’ve at least started the conversation about this, because if in like, two years time we end up sincerely wanting to get engaged, we’ll already know some of the fundamental stuff to avoid, and the discussions we’ll need to had.”  
“Very smart, Miss Woods.” He grinned at her, squeezing her shoulder.   
“Oh yeah. I’m totally keeping my last name by the way!”  
“Noted.”

They stayed like that, just lying with each other for another couple minutes until Elle felt like she needed to get back to work. Elle rested her eyes, Emmett ran his hands through her hair.

-

3.

“Vivian!” A voice called out as she walked down the hallways to her next class. She looked up, searching for the voice and slowing her walk, until a hand stuck out, connected to Emmett quickly coming into view.

“Vivian,” he said, pushing past another dude and landing at her feet, breathing heavily. After a moment, he looked up. “What’s up?”  
Vivan raised an eyebrow at him and helped him steady himself. “Mr. Woods. Did you run here from across the school or something?”  
“Uh. Not from across the school, no. Maybe from the other side of the hallway. I had to run back a couple of times cause I kept forgetting I was holding papers. Anyways, I have a request of you.”  
“Right. Can we do this as we walk? I have class.”

He nodded and gestured for her to lead the way. She stepped quickly, Emmett trailing like a puppy behind her. “So, what did you need, exactly?”  
“Right, uh. When you get a chance within the next few hours, can you ask Elle what her ring size it?” Vivian paused between steps before starting again, looking behind her to shoot Emmett a wide-eyed look.  
“Why? Can’t you ask her yourself?”  
“It’s a surprise, for her birthday. I don’t want her to suspect anything.”

Vivian was silent for some time before they reached the classroom, and she tugged him in. Emmett attempted to say something, but she held a hand up and set her bag down. “Alright, what exactly-” she sighed, leaning against the table, “-is happening for Elle’s birthday?”  
“Well, I mean, I’m getting her a ring. I thought that was obvious.”  
She pinched the bridge of her nose, composing herself. “No, I mean- Emmett. Are you proposing to her on her birthday?”

He processed this for a few seconds before he jolted in realization. “No! I’m not proposing! Okay, the story is she dragged me to a jewelry store because she wanted new earrings and she’s trying to “culture me,” and she kept eyeing this ring while we were there but didn’t buy it. I love her, but I’m not proposing to her.”

Vivan nodded as he talked, slowly falling into her seat. It felt like adrenalin was flooding out of her body. “Okay, I’m glad you clarified. You guys are all over each other so it’s something I would expect, but not for another year at the least. Plus, I wanted to know if we were going to be celebrating an engagement, cause I know how long that goes on, ugh.”  
“Right, no, I’m just. It’s just a birthday gift. I- I’ll leave you to it, I guess? I gotta get to my class too. Make sure to ask what her ring size is!”

Vivian sat back in her seat as Emmett slowly walked away, and she waved him off with a lazy goodbye. Useless.

(Elle’s ring size was 7.5)  
(She liked the birthday gift)

-

(4.)

Emmett watched proudly as Elle spoke in front of the graduating class. She seemed proud and confident up there, and she was, but nobody else knew about how she practiced for days on end, nobody else saw the way her hands were shaking in the car ride there. That was just for him. The way she was always so clever and pleased with herself was so good, but it was refreshing to be trusted and relied on when her nerves got the better of her.

“You must always have faith in others,” she said, grinning out at the crowd, but him in particular. There was something to be said about how trusting he was, but she had been worse before they had met, before she had broadened her perspective.

“You must always have faith in yourself. Even with this faith, I have to thank you all, even the ones who thought I would fail at becoming successful. The ones that helped cause my failures. The ones that helped me prevail. Over the course of these three years, I have figured out a plan to move forwards happily, and I know all of you will do so as well. Congratulations class of two-thousand and nine. We did it!"

The place went up in applause as Elle smiled both privately to herself, and to everyone in the room. Vivan stepped forwards, as the clapping slowly started to fade, and whispered something in her ear. She jumped before realization washed over her face and her face split into a bright grin.

“If you could all give me a quick second before we go, I have one last thing to say!” She squealed, and unhooked the microphone from its stand, coming down, and pulling a confused and surprised Emmett out of where he was standing. She pulled a small box out of her pocket, and clearly and excitedly asked: “Emmett Forrest, would you please make me the happiest woman ever, and- well, would you marry me?”

Emmett watched in shock as she got down on one knee, looking up at him so brightly, and that’s when he realized that she probably wasn’t worried about the speech, it was this. “Oh my- oh my- oh my god.” He stuttered out a few times before lighting up and nodding hard.

She laughed and handed the microphone off to one of her Delta Nu friends, before slipping the ring on his finger and pulling herself up. He couldn’t stop smiling, even when he kissed her, giddiness running through his body. There was something to be said about real proposals.

**Author's Note:**

> ive never written legally blonde before and it shows 😔  
> this is all unbeta-ed as is all my work, bcuz its fueled by pure passion/endurance/spring break freetime/hyperfocusing
> 
> tumblr is don-lockwood.tumblr.com  
> thx. love you 💕


End file.
